Flowers Within Me (Annyeongz/Jinjoo)

Chapter 3

     Right now, I'm at our classroom hearing this blurry voice speaking about functions and numbers I don't get. While everyone or maybe some of my classmates who actually care are listening, I was busy staring outside our room's window.

     I couldn't take my eyes off the orange tracksuit girl who's busy jumping rope at such a quick speed, I could hear the sound of the rope even here, while her ducky and hamster friend were busy sitting or flirting on the grass. She must've noticed someone staring at her faraway. She looked around until she eventually  saw me staring at her. She waved and smiled. Damn it. I felt like I needed to cough again.

     Right now, it's much worse than ever, I feel like I can't hold it in anymore. I could feel it brushing through my throat and I felt this sudden urge to vomit. I kept coughing and coughing, so everyone looked at me. I ran outside quickly, without even asking permission from my Math teacher. It was too unbearable, I even found it hard to breathe.

     While I ran, I heard footsteps following me to the bathroom. I could hardly care as the burning feeling in my chest and throat didn't stop. When I reached the toilet in the first cubicle I could reach, I immediately threw up those wretched things that are always trying to escape from my mouth.

     They tasted familiar to a scent I've smelled before. When I looked at what I threw up, I was shocked. It was no longer just a petal, it was a whole flower. It was a whole damn rose that came out of me. I couldn't understand what was happening.

     "WONYOUNG?!", I heard someone gasp. When I finally recovered, I looked at the girl behind me who saw what's happening. It was Nako unnie and I could see how her eyes were wide and filled with shock and worry.

     "Unnie, let me explain. I don-", I tried to say while standing up and facing her but she beat me to it.

     "Hanahaki." She said, shock still written on her face. Now, we're both shocked.

     "U-unnie. H-how did you know?", I asked her.

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     As we sit on the swing I and Yujin unnie usually sit on, I waited for Nako unnie to start speaking about what I have. When I stared at her though, I couldn't help but giggle when I saw her feet dangling, her short legs failing to reach the ground while sitting on the swing.

     "My- Uh- my best friend had Hanahaki.", my attention was back on her face when she started speaking. I was shocked. I wasn't the only one who had this.

      "At first, when she told me, I thought it was all just a prank, ya know? I mean who the heck would spit out flowers." I saw her laugh at own words. But then she got all serious, it scared me.

     "But then it started getting worse. From a petal, to a lot of petals, then it became whole flowers. We were so afraid at that time.", she said. I could sense the sadness in her voice. It was like she's on the verge of crying.

     "We looked for doctors, and all of them couldn't understand what was happening. We were so hopeless and about to give up. But we received a call from a doctor in Japan, our homeland. We flew all the way there to solve whatever she was experiencing. It really was getting worse and worse." I felt her clutching the metal chain of the swing.

     "It was one-sided love. And the only way for the flowers to stop growing and coming out was if the feeling became mutual. But I didn't know who she loved. I told her to confess to whoever it is. But she was stubborn, telling me it was impossible. One choice was left. Surgery. But if they manage to get it out and if it was a success, all the feelings she had for the person she loved would disappear and never come back." She stared at me.